Improving public services for its citizens
A public sector local government organization removing manual processes, improving user experience, making information transparent, and compliant with Swedish Law. Decentralized data and information storage were getting in the way.
A combination of Content Management by OpenText and Content Server is the perfect fit to address a complex set of requirements. AppWorks is being used for submissions and processes to replace outdated UI problems.
Problem
- Key information and records are spread across multiple systems and storage repositories, creating gaps and risk
- Time-consuming manual processes are required to process freedom-of-information requests from the public
- A lack of transparency in local government decision-making processes for citizens
- Reliant on third-party systems that create security risks
- UI for citizens is difficult to use and complex to submit relevant information
- Compliance and legal exposure create a major risk
- Systems were not scalable and did not allow for the implementation of the long-term improvements road map.
Solution
- Created and maintain a central repository of data and information
- Content Management creates a secure, single point of access for fulfilling Freedom of Information Act requests whilst reducing friction in obtaining the needed data
- Alerts created for missing data in public requests
- Used AppWorks to improve UI for public submissions
- Used Turnpikes’ in house method of updating from Template to Business Workspace to maintain support and improve efficiency
- Created a new method and process to recover lost data for disaster recovery planning
- Reduce reliance on 3rd Party applications by centralizing data and making storing information faster
- Transparent data structures and layouts mean any missing data can be noticed and found quickly
- Methodical delivery of systems updated and upgraded the implementation in a safe and secure way
- Gradual rollout to users, improving adoption and allowing for efficient testing
With one of the oldest laws around freedom of expression, as far back as 1766, making information available to the public is a serious matter that requires constant attention from companies and organizations in the public realm. Transparency, accuracy, and the ability to work efficiently are important.
The solution
This region of Sweden needed to move to a digital system of handling incoming cases which must be transparent and proven to be documented. These requests can come from multiple places and in multiple formats, creating complexity and risk.
One of the things that could stop that from happening is silos of information being disconnected, which stops people being able to find everything they need at the time they find it. Some of those will be proprietary, off the shelf tools and software, inboxes, files, share drives and everything in between. It means that to find everything, a series of emails, phone calls, meetings and manual processes would have to be used. This is risky, inefficient and frustrating. Meaning delivery of information took longer than needed and was possibly inaccurate.
Requests can come from citizens, the federal government, regional politicians or journalists. They could come in through email, paper mail, phone calls or in person. When they arrived, they had to go through a manual process to be acted upon. The case needed to be:
- Assigned a number
- Assigned to a process
- Manually forwarded to the specialist case worker to be actioned
There is also a requirement to archive these cases, for example a journalist may request to know how many incoming requests there have been about healthcare, the latest information on a metro project or other public interest subjects. This means they need swift and accurate access to this information, which was no longer possible in a manual paper-based archive. In the mid 2010s, The project began with evaluating software providers, which ended up with OpenText being selected and in 2017 Content Management licenses were purchased and the project began to digitise this process. In 2019, after a public tender, Turnpikes were selected to step in and support the implementation and the maintenance of the system. Turnpikes took on the support for end users and technical infrastructure upgrades. During our time supporting, we started to notice areas that could be improved, UI being one of them.
Integrations between Content Server and Content Management by OpenText were the preferred solutions for this early work on UI. The flexibility of Content Server and Content Management by OpenText (xECM) made it the ideal choice to start with in this use case. Giving users the ability to access a seamless UI to navigate all the underlying connected applications to reduce risk, increase efficiency and drive adoption. One major upgrade was to implement AppWorks to allow them to make sure the latest and correct documentation is published and accessible to people. Key documents such as meeting minutes, agendas, public documents etc need to be published on their website and made accessible. Templated creation of documents such as meeting agendas and minutes is automated, saving time and minimising copy paste errors.
As a result of this upgrade, there is no more manual uploading to the website, meaning a reduction in effort and risk. Documents can be published and removed with the click of a button, meaning consistent documentation styles and templates make for simpler ingestion of information for citizens and relevant parties. We have been proactive in suggesting upgrades and best practice within the client. A great example of this is moving from template workspace to business workspace. Template is no longer supported and so we are supporting the move to a new template methodology. We have an in-house method of updating from template to business. Using numbered schema from template workspace to a naming convention schema for business workspace. This reduces the work for the client, comes with tested methods of performing the work and gives longer term support with lower requirements of maintenance in house.
Because of the efforts made in digitization and data classification, we can support the archive requirement and have gone above and beyond its initial goals. Digital archiving means we are able to create reporting and dashboards to display deeper analytics within documentation. Approvals by area for public projects, volume of request tracking, individual project documentation and much more are available in reports rather than manual collation. We use powerful APIs to connect with multiple systems to remove silos of information for people. Anyone working with the region, for example private companies in healthcare are required to comply with regional policy. This means they need to be able to connect to the region and access up to date policy and send documentation back.
We have also implemented storage in PDF/A format to remove the long-term risk of licensing requirements when viewing documentation, whilst making sure everything is created in local language. This is a requirement in Sweden, but we are also capable of doing this across Scandinavia and globally. Mitigating for risk is a requirement, for example data loss or disaster planning. Mistakes happen, so planning for them is important. We have helped to recover lost data from errors made, uncover risks, create a plan for the things that could happen and execute if it does.
The region is in a good position to achieve more and more for its citizens, they are able to move forwards with projects knowing they are working from a secure foundation